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Being that this post is going live the day of the National College Football Championship game, I thought I would gear it more as a pep talk to get you all in game day mode. I usually refrain from doing stuff like this because it is probably the part I love the most in sports. And miss the most from sports. The hunger. The grind. The drive. The relentless fight to win. Growing up through sports, I learned a lot of life lessons. This one may seem like a sports post, but believe me when I tell you that you can apply it towards every aspect of your life.

I actually wrote this based on a dream I had. (I have extremely vivid dreams and I practically remember all of them) So being that what I am going to tell you is the basis of a past dream of mine, I had to make sure to share in the afternoon for it to be valid. I don’t know if that is a thing or not for you but in my house that is what we do.

So here it goes…

I didn’t care much for the hype of game days growing up. I love it now as a supporter but when I played it was totally different. Of course, I loved putting on the uniform but as far as everything else was concerned it was just like every other day. Games, practice, lift, meetings, class, nutrition, and rest all meant the same to me. They were all driven with the same goal and that was to win, and win, and level up, and win again, and to never stop winning.

As I continued to get older and more competitive I started to hate losing, more than I loved to win and that is when things got real fun in my career. My mentality behind it all was: Why not win? If God blessed me with all the opportunities to be successful, why not be successful? If God keeps presenting a a path to rise and grow, why not rise and grow? If I know and am well capable of winning, why not win? If things don’t go as great as I planned and instead of success it is a lesson to be taught, why not learn it? So my definition of losing is very different. It is practically a word that is no longer serves in my vocabulary. There is an L word on the other side of win and it is called learn. When visualizing things in a form of a line chart. I like to refer to it as a learning ladder. You place that ladder right on top of that last win and you start climbing and learning the lesson at each step. You reach the top and you win bigger than you ever did before. Of course, it is easier said than done. Especially depending on the ladder you are dealt, but remember taller the ladder higher up you will go.

Winning the actual games never meant much to me. Everything else it took to get to the point of the game is what mattered to me. That way I already knew if I was going to win the game or not before it even happened. Under pressure, is I guess where people tend to differentiate a game from everything else. However, here is the kicker. “Under pressure is not about rising to any expectations, it is about falling back on your training”, said by a famous Greek Philosopher. If I don’t win every rest, every meal, every class, every meeting, every work out, every lift, every practice, how do I even think I have a chance at winning the game? You could keep going and telling yourself that your time will come one day or today could be day one. Followed by another day one and another day one and another day one. Each day meaning as much as the last, no matter what each day entails. Winning every single day. You picking up what I’m putting down?

I just started watching Cobra Kai. Mannn have I been missing out. I love stuff like that and I loved all the karate kids growing up. So why I waited until now to watch it? I have no clue. Although, watching it now and relating it to my life now honestly makes me believe God timed this one up intentionally. There are many life lessons that the show covers that I will probably take a lot of time dissecting each one thoroughly. The one I wanted to cover about today which I believe will conclude this post nicely is about winning with honor.

In the show they spend a good portion of the focus on the difference between honor vs. mercy. Obviously, when you want to win you will go to any great length in order to do so. I wanted to win so bad I would nearly kill myself on the field, in the gym, in the classroom, and in the kitchen. In regards to who you show mercy and honor to or no honor and no mercy. That depends on who you believe to be your competition. Maybe for you that is another person, another team, for me it was me. I had no honor and zero mercy for the person I was competing with. And THAT… That is when you lose. And lose greater than any win can ever weigh. Regardless of the outcome.

I was losing. I was losing for a while actually. Until, I started to hate to lose, more than I loved to win, and win the right way. It is more glorious that way but it is also a whole lot more harder that way. So you embrace that hard and win big. Win for real. Your drive never came from it being easy anyway. Your passion and your fight never came from it being handed right to you. You live for the challenge. It is what fuels you. It is what makes you feel on top of the world when you get that win. And what will pummel that same world on top of you when you don’t. It will drop you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. Funny thing is that life is like that too and nothing is going to hit you as hard as life.

So let us all mark today as Day 1 and WIN BIG today, tomorrow, and everyday!

*But especially today!!!!*

God bless you all and GOOOO BLUEEE BABYY!!

Xoxo,

Kroddyrich💋